


Renegade

by AuryDaffodil



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Vanitas-eccentric, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-11-28 06:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18204842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuryDaffodil/pseuds/AuryDaffodil
Summary: What-if au with eventual vanven. In which Vanitas is given another route that leads him behind the scenes, unintentionally helping Sora on his journey to the Final Battle, with the help of a recluse king, a rookie soldier, and a pair of hyper-active twins. Is his fate only as Xehanort’s pawn, or will this new path lead him to reunite with Ventus?





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking out the fic ^^ I wanted to post this as soon as I finished iwlfy but I wanted to give a try at a ‘what if’ scenario for Vanitas. And I had this wip saved up for a while so I tidied it up and well, here we are ^-^ This is just the prologue so not much will be explained at first, but I look forward to updating this story and explaining more ^-^ Hope you guys enjoy it, too ^^

_ ‘Hey… You know this isn’t right, don’t you?’ _

Vanitas snorted. Really, that was the only thing he could think to do. Because it would have been crazy to talk back to the voice in his head.

‘ _Humor me,’_ the voice tried again, drowning out Ansem and Xemnas’ voices as they addressed the various members gathered there today. Not like it did any good, since the lightning witch and the assassin were talking amongst themselves and the sitar player was strumming that giant instrument he carried around, humming along to the plucked tones. Vanitas knew their names but the voice in his head was making it that much harder to use them.  _ ‘What Xehanort is trying to do? This isn’t going to end the way he wants to. This isn’t going to end the way  _ **_you_ ** _ want it to either.’ _

And how exactly did that voice knew what he wanted? It had just popped up all of a sudden during the first few days he was awaken, so there was no way it could know what he wanted. At first, he thought it was just his imagination or the remnants of sleep forming something that wasn't there. But then it began to read his thoughts and that was when he knew it was real —whatever it was. Which was why he ignored it. That, and it’s bickering voice was becoming increasingly annoying.

‘ _Think of me however you like. I’m not the one who doesn’t know why he’s here.’_

Oh Vanitas knew  _ why  _ he was here. Here was where he fulfilled the whims of his ‘creator’ and served as one of his chosen, one of the pieces Xehanort needed to unlock Kingdom Hearts. Here was where he kept an eye on the spares in case something happened to them. Here was where he stood, waiting for his next orders to be announced and to take off, putting him one step closer to reaching his own goal. He knew what his role was and didn't need some disembodied voice telling him what he already knew.

‘ _You’ll reach him,’_ the voice sighed, reading his thoughts in a way that caught him off guard.  _ ‘But you won’t get what you want in the end.’ _

_ Him _ . Vanitas’ brow curled down.  _ ‘And what makes you think I won’t?’ _

‘ _Because he rejected you the first time. And he rejected you again when you reached out to him before you fell.’_

_ That _ hit him harder than it should have. Suddenly he could remember falling as he was pushed back, the sound of shattering glass piercing his ears. In that moment, he had reached out, trying to grab ahold of the one thing that could save him. Yet every swipe he made, every pull his body pushed through, the last piece of the puzzle drifted farther, and farther away from him. Humiliation gave away into desperation as the light flitted away from his fingertips, his eyes closing as his hands reached one last time to his salvation, his better half.

His own wayward wind.

But Ventus had his back to him by then, his head towards the sky as the light enveloped the both of them. He didn’t even care to look back. While Ventus was floating to the surface, Vanitas was drowning, struggling to break free and try again. All of his senses had vanished before he could feel the pain he felt so many times before. Thank goodness for that mercy, at least this wouldn’t hurt as much as it felt like it should. Yet still, the emptiness in his chest grew as Ventus began to fade away from his vision, something akin to a plea on the tip of his lips.

‘ _Don’t leave me…’_

‘ _That’s what you want most of all.’_ Said the voice, a look of sympathy probably on its face. ‘ _ You don’t want to be alone anymore. You want him in order to feel complete again.’ _

Vanitas mentally chuckled.  _ ‘Of course. I need my dear, dear other half in order to be  _ **_me_ ** _ again,’  _ He said, his fist opening as if he was going to summon his keyblade.  _ ‘And I’m going to find him. Even if I have to do as my master says.’ _

‘ _Alright, but food for thought,’_ The voice chirped, interrupting him. Really, this was starting to annoy him.  _ ‘What if I told you if we did things my way, you wouldn’t have to listen to Xehanort anymore?’ _

The bark of laughter Vanitas let out wasn’t ignored this time. The others looked at him, wearing incredibly confused expressions.

“What’s up with the gremlin?” Asked Larxene, sneering as she could just tell the Masked boy was smirking in her direction.

“What joke did we miss?” Asked Demyx, the most easy-going member of the organization and the one that bothered Vanitas the least. Probably because the guy was lounging around somewhere and avoiding any form of work. “You gotta tell us now, it must have been pretty funny.”

“Yes,” Agreed Xemnas in his smooth baritone of a voice. “Enlighten us.”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” Replied the young man, turning away as the air behind him rippled into a corridor of darkness. “I’ll leave you to your discussion. I was just here for the master anyway.” before any of them could inquire him further or just start an argument with him, he vanished through the corridor and threw up the hood of his coat as he walked. The cold, stale air around him bit at his cheeks as he shifted through the shadows.

‘ _Alright, start talking.’_

‘ _Really?’_ The voice was surprised.  _ ‘You want to change sides that easy?’ _

‘ _First of all, I want an explanation first before I agree to anything.’_ When he was made, he wasn’t given a choice. He never knew what that was when he took his first steps. He only followed the voice of his master and did as he was told. And if he didn’t do it right, Xehanort was sure to double his training, sent him to kill more of the unversed he created just to make his hurt grow. By the time Vanitas had learned of choice, he already accepted that his own didn’t matter. Not when it came to his master at least. With this opportunity presented to him, he was going to make his own decision. His own choice.  _ ‘Second, I’m not on my master’s “side.” He can go and destroy all the worlds he likes. I do what he says, I reach my goal.’ _

‘ _Well, with my way, you won’t need to follow him anymore,’_ Replied the voice, sounding so sure of itself that Vanitas almost believed it.  _ Almost _ .  _ ‘But before I get onto that, we need to talk, face-to-face.’ _

_ ‘So you aren’t just a figment of my imagination.’ _

‘ _Nah. I’m more like a dream.’_

Well  _ that  _ didn’t make him feel any less insane. But like the voice had asked before, he would humor it. For now.  _ ‘Right. Well, how exactly are we supposed to talk? Where are you?’  _ If the voice really was in his head, he had no idea how they were supposed to actually talk.

‘ _I’m kinda… Somewhere that’s easy to go to, but it’s a bit of a trip,’_ Said the voice. Vanitas didn’t follow.  _ ‘All you have to do is fall asleep.’ _

Did he hear that right?

‘ _You heard me,’_ He hoped the sooner he met whatever this was, the faster it would get out of his head.  _ ‘Humor me, remember?’ _

This was downright close to him getting pranked, he could almost feel it. How was he supposed to fall asleep in a place like this? Tendrils of darkness flicking around him to and fro and nothing but a walkway graced with shadows? It was the most  _ delightful  _ place for the nap. But the more he stood there, the longer this voice would be hanging onto him and annoying him. So with the deepest breath he could muster, he tilted his chin up and closed his eyes, his exhale giving him the gentlest tug out of reality.

His movements slowed as the ground broke beneath him. He was falling into water, sinking further and further to this deep, dark abyss of what felt like nothing. At first, he thought he was looking through the tinted glass of his mask. But when he touched his face, he was almost startled. His mask was gone, and so was his cloak.  _ ‘What…?’ _

The cool water pulled him farther down until suddenly, it became warm. It was strange. It reminded him of the day he was created —the blinding light, the overwhelming feeling of everything feeling too warm before his body got used to it. He hated it that day. But here? He felt like he would have missed it if it left him.

Vanitas waved one hand through the air, the resistance he felt before no longer there. He had regained control over his body. He flipped in the air and flew into a nose-dive as he fell through the space, taking another breath as he fell through a gate made of light. Clusters of light broke around him as he soared further down, picking up speed and his drop never seeming to end. And then, his vision went white and he was still once more.

* * *

When Vanitas awakened, he saw another of him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was only his reflection, staring up at him from the ground beneath him.  _ ‘Obviously.’  _ He told himself. There was no way another of him could be running around here. Speaking of which,  _ where  _ exactly was he?

There was nothing in this strange, new world. Nothing but a sky filled with clouds surrounding him, the world stretching on and on, going on forever until he could no longer keep track of it. As he turned in his spot, the faint sound of water splashed beneath his feet. Just what was this place?

A garbled amalgamation of laughter was his answer. Without a second thought, Vanitas threw out his hand and prepared to summon Void Gear, only to stop and stare at the orb of glittering light that was falling right before him. His mind went blank, trying to register exactly  _ what  _ he was looking at as the orb transformed into this creature. It wasn’t like his unversed, that was for sure. It looked as if it had the consistency of a marshmallow, it's plush limbs and comically giant head swaying gently as it approached him. That only made him want to summon Void Gear again.

“Whoa, hey now!” The creature jumped in alarm, waving its stubby arms at him. “Before you do something you regret, you said you were gonna hear me out, remember?!”

Wait.  _ This _ was what had been talking to him for the past several weeks? He stared at the cat-dog hybrid in disbelief.

“Don’t look at me like that.” It said, it’s eyes squinting impossibly more.

“It’s hard not to.” Vanitas took a closer look at it. His keyblade could bounce off it and he was pretty sure the creature would  _ jiggle  _ if he so much as poked it.

“Hmph,” The creature turned away from him for a moment, its ears curling back, before it turned back to Vanitas. “You aren’t a beauty contest winner yourself!”

“Just tell me why you brought me here or else-“

“Ah-ah!” Snapped the creature, it’s ears pointing up. “You said you would hear me out!”

He did. Void Gear still appeared in his hand anyway. “Start by explaining who and what you are.”

“Oh! The name’s Chirithy!” It hopped once as it spoke. “I’m a spirit!”

Right. That made a lot of sense. But he could sweat the details some other time. “Alright, Chirithy. And what is this place?”

“This,” Chirithy motioned around them with a grand flourish. “Is the Final World.”

“What?” The words took him by surprise. Why, though? Something in the back of his head was trying to jar his memories, clawing at his brain and trying to get him to remember something important. His feet splashed against the watery surface again, and  _ that  _ felt eerily familiar. Like he had crossed this place before. Vanitas looked around with squinted eyes, trying to see if he could stir up anything else from the ghosts of his memories. His head began to ache the harder his stared.

“Easy,” Said Chirithy. “I know. You feel like you’ve been here before, right?”

Vanitas looked back at the spirit and nodded, golden eyes peering through slanted slits. “How do you know that?”

“Just a feeling. It could be possible that you’ve been here before, but it’s… strange,” Chirithy placed its paw on its chin as it said this, like it was trying to figure out what it meant as well. “I’ve been watching over you for a while and I think I got a good idea on what you’re all about.” It said.

“Oh, really?” Vanitas looked unimpressed. Never mind that whatever this thing had been stalking him, but it apparently knew everything about him. Great.

“Mhm,” The creature tottered passed Vanitas and looked towards the horizon. Vanitas couldn’t tell what it was trying to find through that vast blue sky. Or maybe it saw something Vanitas couldn’t. “You’re missing a piece of you that was lost. Or maybe, someone took it from you?”

That was Ventus, of course. Tell him something he didn’t know. “I’m incomplete without my dear little light,” Vanitas almost hissed, the anger he possessed ready to manifest into a unversed. But none ripped themselves from his body or were expelled from him in the most humiliating manor like they had before. Strange. Was it an effect of this world? “You could say a lot of people are trying to keep us apart. Just wait until I get my hands on them. On him…”

“I think you’re directing your feelings at the wrong people.” Replied Chirithy.

Vanitas laughed. “And I’m supposed to ask why you think that, right?” Like whatever this creature was going to say would change his views.

However, Chirithy shook its head. “No. I can't tell you what to feel or do. I can only give you my two cents.” Chirithy waved one of its arms at Vanitas. “Like I said, I’ve been observing you, as well as those connected to your heart.”

Now he  _ knew  _ this thing was crazy. “No one is connected to my heart. Except-“

“Your little light.” It sounded less degrading coming out of the thing’s mouth. Did it even have a mouth? “Well, since his heart is connected to yours, all of the other hearts connected to him are therefore connected to you. And that gave me the chance to watch them and you for a while. What they’re doing now, what they’ve done back then, and what their goals are. And honestly? You can gain a lot more for following my idea.”

“What are you, some all powerful being?” If it was, Vanitas could have all the more fun of disposing it. He always did like a challenge.

“Nope,” It shook its head. “I’m just Chirithy.”

There was more to it than that. And it irritated Vanitas. But after pinching the bridge of his nose, he exhaled. “Okay. What’s this idea you had that involved dragging me to this place?” Seriously, why was this place so familiar to him?

“It’s simple!” Another hop, one filled with excitement. “Take back what you lost!”

Vanitas’ sword arm twitched.

“Let me finish! Take back what you lost by going a different way.”

“You lost me.” Vanitas was almost in his battle stance.

“Don’t do as your master says.” Implored the spirit. “Don’t give yourself up for his cause.”

“Like I ever would.”

“Do you really think you can avoid fate?” That struck a chord in the masked boy. That, too, sounded familiar. “You know he just won’t let you do what you want once you reach your light, right?” Asked Chirithy, somehow looking at the fractured piece sorrowfully. “You’ll feel whole only for so long. And when your master needs you for the finishing touches, what will you do then? You can’t run. He’ll find you somehow. He’s always managed to before.”

A painful memory opened in Vanitas’ mind. It was the first time he tried to escape his master’s ‘training,’ back when his heart was soft and there was a wetness that stained the corners of his eyes. Time went slow as Xehanort caught up to him and drove his keyblade straight into his back, sending him straight into the ground. He could still taste the blood and dirt in his mouth.

“I’m stronger…” Vanitas said through clenched teeth. It was obvious he wasn’t talking to Chirithy. “He can’t. He won’t be able to.”

“You’re shaking.”

Vanitas tightened his trembling fists, his keyblade shattering into a million pieces when his grip became too tight. Where was an unverse he could stomp on?

“Hey,” Chirithy walked over to him, placing its paw on his knee. What a strange touch. Soft and warm, like that brief moment when he and Ventus had fused. This touch, however, was not as brief. “It’s okay. He can’t find you here. And if we do things my way, he won’t be able to ever again.” The spirit patted his knee. “He won’t be able to take your little light, either. You can reach him first and gain a lot more than what you master has planned.”

“What ‘more’ exactly can I gain?” Vanitas narrowed his eyes at Chirithy once more. “And what do you gain from all of this?”

“I can’t really say. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense.”

“So, you don’t know.”

“No,  _ you  _ don’t know. I just told you that.”

This was getting him nowhere. Still, the more he thought about what he was told and what was going on now, the more he was intrigued. Some part within him wanted to know more about this place and this path Chirithy laid out before him. It called out to him like a buried instinct, stirring the crackles that made up his broken heart and giving it a reason to pound with excitement. Despite it going against what he originally had planned, Chirithy’s words rang some truth, ‘Do you really think you can avoid fate?’ Well, if his fate wasn’t to be a servant of the man who nursed his existence with empty praise and ruthless beatings to improve his ‘strength,’ then what was it? And when (or if) he found it, why would Ventus be at the end of it? Would this mean his fate really was to be one with his “little light” once more? The thought made him grin. Maybe it was time to test fate.

“Alright,” He looked down at the spirit. “Where do we start?”

“Here,” Chirithy stepped back as a figure materialized before Vanitas. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stood before him.

“ **_You-!”_ ** Void Gear appeared as the formally masked boy swung his arm up, the blade prepared to catch the young man.

Ventus vanished before he could touch him. And then, he reappeared behind the boy of darkness.

“What-?”

“Usually, there’s a lot of trial and error when it comes to leaving this place. But because you came here when you fell asleep, I found an easier way to take you where you need to go,” Chirithy motioned to Ventus, who remained perfectly still, almost doll-like. It unsettled Vanitas. “When you dropped here, a piece of you connecting you to the Worlds broke off you. I bought the piece back here.” It explained further. “All you have to do is catch it, and you can leave. Only once you touch it, you’ll be taken to where you need to go.”

Vanitas started at the spirit, then at the ‘piece of him.’ “That's it?” He walked over to a the piece and swiped at him. Ventus disappeared again. “You little-“

“Well you can’t just grab it all willy-nilly!” Exclaimed Chirithy. “Like I said, it’s a piece of you! Try being gentle.”

“You got to be joking.” Vanitas deadpanned.

“Nope.” Countered the spirit.

This had better be worth it.

Vanitas tried grabbing the piece like he did before, but of course, he kept slipping away from him, staring at him with that blank expression on his face. Really, he’d take that glare of malcontent Ventus wore on his face over this thing any day. At least the original had the brains (or lacked them) to say something that both amused Vanitas and had him itching for a fight. Finally, with his patience running thin, Vanitas came up from behind the piece and trapped him in his arms. He pinned both his arms to his side while he grabbed his chin and tilted it up, their eyes meeting.

Nothing. No sadness. No surprise. Not even the fledging of anger he witnessed when he first stumbled across his other half for the first time. Those wide, blue eyes didn’t give him the gratification he needed. Still, that didn’t stop Vanitas from grinning madly at the clone as he squeezed him impossibly close to him, as if he could make them merg here and there.

“Wait for me, Ventus.”

The piece broke and scattered into a million balls of light, Vanitas’ arms now wrapped around himself as the lights engulfed him and carried him into the sky(?) As he floated above the sea of clouds, Vanitas suddenly began to grow tired.

“Time to fall asleep again, Vanitas,” Chirithy’s voice came from somewhere. Vanitas couldn’t tell if it was from the Final World or from his head. “I’ll talk to you as soon as you wake up…”

* * *

The next thing he knew, Vanitas was waking to the smell of freshly-cut grass, the sound of birds chirping nearby, and the sight of an anthropomorphic dog dressed in armor, holding a long sword to his face. It would have been hilarious if more troops dressed in similar armor weren't poised to strike right behind the dog. The young soldier narrowed his eyes at him as he growled.

“Who are you, and why are you trespassing the castle?”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for checking out the fic ^^ I wanted to post this as soon as I finished iwlfy but I wanted to give a try at a ‘what if’ scenario for Vanitas. And I had this wip saved up for a while so I tidied it up and well, here we are ^-^ This is just the prologue so not much will be explained at first, but I look forward to updating this story and explaining more ^-^ Hope you guys enjoy it, too ^^


	2. Wasteland Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas’ steps into a forgotten world, and his first moments there aren’t the most welcoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys ^^ Thanks so much for being patient with the latest update and thank you so much for the support for the fic. I’m so glad you guys enjoyed the prologue. I’m really excited to introduce all the characters in this chapter. Can you spot where all of them came from? There may be one that seems out of place~
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the the update!

Funny how that little creature had been yammering in Vanitas’ head for the past few weeks, had promised to speak to him as soon as he arrived…  _ wherever  _ he was, and now it chose the moment to not speak at all as he was being shoved down a long and almost desolate hallway.  _ ‘What else do you expect from something you can’t decide is a cat or a dog?’  _ He grumbled his breath —the last thing he wanted to sass himself.

“What was that?” He could feel the soldier’s gaze on him and he nearly snorted. Come back to him in ten years when that facade was a little stronger. Vanitas could easily see through the dog’s tough act. He’d be shaking in his boots if he were doing this alone. Vanitas said nothing as he took a look at the hall they were crossing through, trying to find an escape route.

He could scale up the wall and break through the yellowing, painted glass windows. But his hands were bound behind him with chains and his boots would probably be ripped to shreds by the glass if he made a kick and managed to shatter the glass. Or his legs would probably break if the glass was strong enough, and then it be easy to catch him again. Taking down these soldiers would have been easy if it weren’t for these chains they had locked around his wrists.

The heavy, black metal had somehow made his hands heavier than steel. It was like his entire being was pulled straight towards the ground. And somehow, the chains did the same to his spirit. Vanitas couldn’t bring himself to reach the darkness within him and summon Void Gear. He felt too tired to, which was strange since he had barely moved at all since he got here. What were these chains made of? And where were these soldiers taking him?

Well, he got his answer soon enough.

The (literal) animals hauled him over to a pair of double doors that sat at the end of the barren hallway. One of the soldiers took his spear and stomped the butt of it to the ground two times, the sound echoing across the walls. Vanitas turned his head to him, wondering if the guard had gone crazy at that moment, but the sound of the doors opening made him look forward again.

The throne room -if you could even call it that- was just as empty as the hallways they had walked through. Similar stained glass windows brought light into the room, the colored glass depicting what was probably moments in history lead by the king of the castle. Whoever this king was, he was pretty short. Vanitas followed the light to the old linoleum floors, the cracking black and white walls, and then to the two thrones set in the far back. One of the soldiers gave him a hard shove and with a roll of his eyes, Vanitas complied and walked over to the thrones, spotting someone occupying one of the them.

Like the other inhabitants of this world, she was also an animal that walked on two legs. She was a black and white cat  (ironic considering almost all of the guards were dogs) with a white blouse and a long pink skirt. She stood up as soon as Vanitas and the guards were a few feet away.

“Guards, what is this?” She asked.

One of the guards stepped forward and knelt on one knee. Vanitas remembered this dog was the one who gave the command to chain him up, so he guessed he was a commanding officer of some sort. “My queen, we found this intruder crawling around in the gardens. With the absence of his majesty, what punishment shall he be dealt with?”

“Punishment?” The queen looked as shocked as Vanitas felt. Save the surprise that this small cat was royalty, but he was being unjustly accused! He hadn’t done anything wrong. It was Chirithy who had gotten him into this mess. Why was he being punished for its mistake? “You say you found him in the garden, yes?” Asked the queen. “Did you find anything on his person that he could have stolen from here? Any weapon?”

The kneeling dog faltered for a moment. “No, my queen-“

“Then he has no malicious reason as to why he was in the garden,” The queen walked down the small staircase that connected the thrones to the main floor and stood before the captive prisoner. “That is, unless his reasons as to why he was in the garden in the first place say otherwise, and I will determine if he should be punished or not. So, please,” She jerked her chin once.

The soldier glared at Vanitas as he stood, but stepped back with his fellow canines as the queen ordered. Vanitas hid a smirk.  _ ‘Even if they walk, they’re still leashed.’ _

“Hello,” He turned his attention to the queen. Really, she was so short and docile-looking. It surprised Vanitas how much power she had over these animals. “I am Ortensia. May I please have your name?”

“Since you asked so kindly,” Vanitas ignored the growls his sarcastic response provoked. “I am Vanitas, your majesty.”

“Vanitas,” Ortensia nodded, like she was promising to remember his name. He had no idea why, considering he knew he was going to get himself out of this before she could. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry we couldn’t have met in better circumstances,” She glanced at the chains on his wrists. “I wish I could take those off you myself, but I must be sure that you will not cause any harm to my soldiers or my people while you are here.”

‘ _You’re soldiers literally dog piled me, I don’t_ **_see_ ** _ any people here other than myself, and you think you can treat me like this after all that, you-‘ _

“Understandable, your highness.” Said Vanitas as he looked her in the eye, feeling ready to break something but knowing that a sour temper wouldn’t get him anywhere.

Ortensia seemed to sense that he wasn’t being as sincere as he was acting, but she seemed to dust that all under a rug and smiled. “Thank you. Now, can you please tell me why you were in the garden earlier? You can be honest with me.”

“Your majesty, I can be honest all I'd like to be, but my answer isn't going to make your decision any easier.” He told her as he stretched his arms back a little. These chains really were starting to hurt. “let's just say I was given a… ‘command' to come here and carry out a mission.” That was the gist of what he was supposed to do, at least. Stupid vague cat-dog.

“Oh,” Ortensia looked a little disappointed. Vanitas could read her like a book. She wanted him to say something that didn't get him in trouble. Something that could give her the chance to let him go. She must have seen the good in everyone. Well, she would have to keep looking when it came to the masked boy. Her disappointment then replaced with a kind smile. “Well, I won't press you on any further, though I would appreciate it of we could talk more about it a little later. I promise we will sort this all out as soon as possible. I’m sure it’s all just a terribly big misunderstanding.” The queen turned her attention to the guards. “Captain Spike, please see to it that Vanitas is given a room to stay in while I contact the king. He must be notified of a human coming into the Wasteland.”

‘ _Wasteland?’_ But Vanitas had no time to ponder the strangeness of this world’s name as he was yanked straight to his feet and dragged off by Captain Spike and his army of guard dogs.

“ _ Gently  _ escort him, Captain Spike,” Ortensia called after them. “I will not have one bruise on him while he stays with us. Is that clear?”

Captain Spike smiled at the queen as he gave the already peeved Vanitas a shake. “Crystal, my queen.”

* * *

With no form of gentleness whatsoever, Vanitas was tossed into a guest room, still bound with his arms behind his back. He quickly got to his feet and ran at the door with his shoulder just as it was locked shut.

“Let me out!” He demanded as he rammed the door with his shoulder. It was no use. The door was made of a very sturdy steel. That only made Vanitas even more angry. “Let. Me. Out.  _ Now _ .”

“Believe me, kid; if I had it my way, we would have dragged you over to the Edge and dump ya in hopes you float off to whatever world you came from,” Captain Spike’s face appeared with a sneer. “But since our queen is a kind soul to even trespassers like you, you’re stuck here until the king makes contact and gives his orders,” The bulldog smirked as he turned away. “Knowing him, he’ll give us the orders to do as we please. Enjoy your stay… While you can.”

With a growl, Vanitas tried busting the door a few more times, but the only thing left almost busted was his shoulder. It was sore, and he was reminded of how sore it felt as he walked over to the bed and sat down. With a huge huff, he stared at his feet. What was he supposed to do now?

‘ _Ouch, that didn’t look too good.’_

‘ _You.’_ Vanitas stood and gritted his teeth. There it was, the little tormentor.  _ ‘When I get my hands on you, I’m going to-‘ _

‘ _Vanitas, calm down!’_ Exclaimed the little voice in his head.  _ ‘I’m sorry, I really am! I didn’t mean for things to end up the way that they did. Things were supposed to go differently, but I guess I miscalculated and I-‘ _

‘ _Listen,’_ Vanitas was breathing hard through his nose as he paced, his bout of temper slowly smoldering down. This was a technique he had to pick up when he was sprouting the unversed from his body too rapidly or more than he usually let out. Anger was the simplest and quickest ingredient to the catalyst of creating the unversed. Unversed made from anger hurt the most since their skin was as scalding as the anger he felt. And he felt them directly with the skin-to-skin contact. This technique he picked up with controlling that was essential to keeping his cool now.  _ ‘I'm going to need a explanation now. You're going to answers my questions. And if you do, I won't have a reason to come after you. Deal?’ _

‘ _Alright, Alright! I promise. Geez,’_ Chirithy sighed.  _ ‘Okay; what do you want to know?’ _

‘ _Where are we, first of all?’_ Asked the young man as he looked around the room. Nothing noteworthy caught his eye and his window to the outside world was bolted-shut. What wonderful hospitality.

‘ _This is one of the oldest worlds known throughout time; the Wasteland.’_ Chirithy explained. Strange. Vanitas never heard of it before. Not even Xehanort had ever mentioned it. _‘It's existed long before even Disney Castle was made, and it's run by king Oswald, who hasn't made much contact with the other worlds in a long time.’_

‘ _A hermit king, then.’_ Vanitas stopped where he stood and glanced up at the ceiling. He somehow had a feeling that Chirithy was looking down at him from somewhere. It was irritating.  _ ‘And this king is the one who's supposed to help me on this wild goose chase you gave me, right?’ _

‘ _Hey, it was a wild goose chase you decided to follow! And don't call it a goose chase! That's mean…’_ Somewhere out there, an all-powerful being's ears were drooping.  _ ‘And sort of. You two were supposed to meet, and he was going to give you a mission, but it doesn't look like he's here right now.’  _ Chirithy sighed again.  _ ‘This is what I meant when I said I miscalculated. I'm sorry.’ _

_ ‘What exactly is this mission you're talking about?’  _ Asked Vanitas, getting right into the meat of it.  _ ‘What would a king of a place like this want me to do for him? And what does it have go do with this “separate path” you suggested I take?’  _ The more he thought about it, the less this idea was appealing to him.

‘ _I don't know what he would want you to do exactly-’_ Vanitas wanted to slam his head against a wall. What the actual hell.  _ ‘What I do know is that the mission itself is a part of the different path. It's the one with the most possible outcome of leading you to your goal.’ _

‘ _Care to explain that a little more?’_ Asked Vanitas.

‘ _It's like this; I have the ability to explore the possible routes a person can take and their endings here in the Final World, with a lot of time and a lot of observing.’_ Chirithy explained.  _ ‘I have seen all the possible outcomes of the different routes you could have taken and many of them are… unpleasant, to say the least.’  _ What was that tone Chirithy had in its voice just now? Why did it just sound… sorry for him? He must have imagined it.  _ ‘Except for this one,’   _ It continued.  _ ‘Though I really couldn't see the outcome of this route, this one held the most promise. It gives you a better chance to reach your light, though this route is the most difficult.’ _

‘ _What do you mean?’_

‘ _Well, this one doesn't end with you fading away after countless battles.’_ Something akin to terror spiked in Vanitas’ blood.  _ As far as I can tell, you make it to your goal. This route has the biggest chance you'll get in order to reach your other half.’ _

‘ _Wait, did I die on those different paths?’_ He asked.

‘ _Some of them, yes.’_ Chirithy didn't sugarcoat it. Vanitas almost appreciated that. ‘ _The one you were on before I found you was… Well, not terrible.’_ That hardly sound reassuring to Vanitas. There was more to it than that. _‘You were… Accepting of what happened. To the very end, you stood your ground and believed what you wanted to believe. But that's what was unfair with that route, Vanitas; what you believed in was the product of the opportunities and chances you were never given. It wasn't right._

Funny how Vanitas felt so out of his body at that moment. He was just told of his demise, and how he would have surely headed to that end had Chirithy not plucked him out of existence. So, this was what it was like to be given a different chance. It made him feel strange…

To ignore the feeling, Vanitas organized his thoughts; Chirithy had sorted through all the possible routes and outcomes Vanitas had for… some reason either than it being ‘unfair,’ according to it (Vanitas would find that reason later.) In the end, it had found the one route that would lead him to his goal, albeit some parts of the route were clouded and blocked. And this route tied in with a mission the king of Wasteland Castle wanted him to do. The king was nowhere to be found at the moment, and through a mixture of confusion and misunderstanding, Vanitas had been chucked into a stoned-dungeon with no way of getting out, no way of summoning Void Gear, and with a pack of dogs waiting to rip him to shreds for trespassing.

Right. This was  _ definitely  _ the best route he could have taken. Way to go, Chirithy.

‘ _What am I supposed to do now, then?’_ Vanitas shook his chains.  _ ‘I can't summon Void Gear to get myself out of here and it looks like the queen of this place is going to consider letting her guards do whatever they want with me.’  _ He could almost see himself ending up as a chew toy for that horde of dogs.

‘ _I doubt she would actually do that. Queen Ortensia is as kind as they come. You should be fine.’_ Assured Chrirthy.  _ ‘Just hang tight and every-’ _

‘ _Shut up,’_ Vanitas stood. It was faint but he was sure he had heard it; something scuffling on the other side of the wall of his makeshift cell. His eyes narrowed as he slowly drew near the location of the noise as it grew louder and louder. It had to be pretty small in order to shuffle around over there without getting caught by the guards posted by his door. Well, whatever it was, it was making its way fast to the room he was in. Slowly did the young man raise his foot and prepared to knock a hole into the wall. Just before he reeled his foot back, a hole made itself through the wall and out popped three blue blues blurs.

Vanitas ran out of the way in a split second, looking back as the three blue objects smashed into the bed and bounced onto the floor.

_ ‘Rabbits?’  _ asked Chirithy, and indeed they were rabbits. Small blue rabbits dressed in either bow ties or hair ribbons. They picked themselves off from the floor and hopped over to Vanitas, staring up at him and the bewildered expression on his face.  _ ‘Oh, right!’  _ Said Chirithy as the little kits hopped around Vanitas, letting out tiny squeaks every now and then.  _ ‘They must be the king's children. What a mischievous little bunch, they were tiny enough to scurry around and find their way to your room!’  _ The creature cooed.

Vanitas didn't find this as cute. Quite the opposite, actually. As soon as the rabbits tried to climb up on his legs, he was having enough with this. “They made a hole themselves. It appeared and vanished as soon as they used it.” He walked over to the spot he was at and gave it a light kick. It was solid. “Nothing. Is it some kind of magic?”

‘ _They are children of the king. Some magic must have been passed onto them.’_ guessed his telepathic guide.

“Must have…” Vanitas murmured to himself. Suddenly, he had an idea. He turned to the three rabbits. “Do that again,” he said, jerking his chin in the direction of the wall. “Make that hole again, but big enough for me to fit into, and then another to get me out of this room.”

The three kits stared.

Golden-yellow eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Do it now, or else-”

‘ _Vanitas,’_ rang in Chirithy's voice.  _ ‘They probably can't talk themselves, so they might not know what you're saying. Besides, talking to them like that isn't going to get you anywhere,’  _ Vanitas huffed. Why did Chirithy had to have a point? An annoying one at that.  _ ‘This is just like back in the Final World. Try to be gentle. Not just with your words, but with your body language.’ _

“Do I even want to know what that means?” Asked Vanitas aloud.

‘ _I think you already know what I mean.’_

He'd hate to admit it, but he did. This was going to be degrading.

Without tripping over himself, Vanitas craned his neck down and bent himself over a little, looking at the three rabbits with a stoic expression. “Hey,” His voice was filled with contempt, but at least he wasn't sneering at them like before. “I need to go outside. Will you make me a portal so I can?” He asked with a haggard tone -like this was sucking the life out of him. It was, or maybe it was the chains? They felt heavier suddenly.

The kits looked among one another. They nodded, then hopped over to the nearest wall. Vanitas followed after them, watching as they tapped their feet against the floor. A huge black circle painted itself before him. It was the perfect size for him.

“Not bad.” He said. The kits squeaked happily, hopping around him as they received the praise, before they nudged him to take their portal. “I'm going, quit shoving me.”

‘ _Hey, you did it!’_ Chirithy sounded proud.  _ ‘I knew you could be gentle!’ _

‘ _Bite me.’_

‘ _Well, we'll work on that.’_ As Vanitas stepped over to the portal, Chirithy chimed in again.  _ ‘Uh, Vanitas. Maybe you should test out where that portal goes first? You never know if-’ _

The young man had did a pretty good job at ignoring the voice in his head. He owed that to his own voice letting out a yell as he fell three stories down to the ground. The rabbits had done as he demanded yes, but the second portal that was supposed to let him out led directly outside. Straight over the lawn. Green grass awaited Vanitas as he fell.

“Oh!” His fast and disastrous end was met with a light and cushioning catch. Slowly was he lowered to the ground by some sort of magic and the caster who caught him looked at him with worry. “Are you okay?” she asked, her large mouse ears obscured by the wizard's hat she wore.

“Millie!” Another mouse came running over as Vanitas was set on his feet. She resembled the other mouse, but wore armor and carried a shield on her wrist. A large grin was on her face. “That was amazing! I knew you could cast a powerful spell if you tried hard enough! I told you not to doubt yourself!”

“Melody, that's not important!” Replied the first mouse, though her worried expression now morphed into a small smile. “And you were right… Oh!” She turned back to Vanitas. “I'm so sorry! That must have been really scary. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.” Replied Vanitas. And then he turned and started walking away.

“Hey, wait!” Melody ran in front of him and placed her hands on her hips, frowning. “You're just going to walk away without saying thank you? That's so disrespectful! You know, she didn't have to do that!”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow at her. Bold of her to say that when he could kick her across the yard without breaking a sweat.

‘ _Vanitas. No.’_ Came Chirithy's voice.

Oh he was just kidding. There would be no point to doing that anyway. Besides, it would give the guards one more reason to make sure he suffered a proper punishment. So he gave a mocking smile. “Sorry.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Not a bad catch.” He told Millie. The poor thing was positively flustered from the whole ordeal. Behind him, Melody was glaring holes into the back of his skull.

“Melody? Millie?!” And another obstacle came into his path. Wonderful. Around the corner came a young dog that stood a foot or so taller than him. Among all the old pit balls and German shepherds he saw, this young mutt looked younger than all of them. He wore armor that was suited for a an infantry soldier with a sword attached to his hip. “Are you guys-” The soldier's eyes landed on Vanitas’ bound wrists. He quickly pulled out his sword and muttered. “Girls, get behind me.”

“M-Max?” Millie complied, but she was surprised to see him pull a sword out on a falling man she had just caught. Her twin didn't share the sentiment.

“Yeah, Max! Kick his butt!” She exclaimed. “He's totally rude! And only bad guys are rude!”

‘ _You're acting pretty rude yourself, you little twerp.’_ Vanitas thought as he eyed the sword pointed at him. He should have just ignored her and walked away while he still had the chance. But the more he took a closer look at this young soldier, the more he could tell he could get away from these three easily.

“The other guards will be here soon,” Said Max as Millie cowered behind his leg. “And they'll make sure the king and queen hear about you trying to escape, you criminal.”

“Right, and they'll be able to catch me because you were able to subdue me.” Vanitas’ sarcasm returned as he looked at Max with an unimpressed gaze. “I bet you can't even stop a passing wind with the way you hold that sword and yourself.”

“I-I'm holding it just fine!” Exclaimed Max, insulted. “You don't know what you're talking about!”

“I know a lot more than you, mutt.” Vanitas replied, cocky and with no filter. “Even with my hands held behind my back, I could still knock you straight into the floor.”

“Try saying that when I knock  _ you  _ to the floor!” Max reeled his sword back as he ran at Vanitas, the young man meeting him head on as he turned around. The sword met with the chains, but it did not weaken them as Vanitas had hoped it would. The sword bounced off the chains and the impact rushed through the pair and sent them both flying back. Vanitas spun around as soon as he skidded to a halt, cursing under his breath. It was worth a shot, at least.

“Max, stop it!” From nearby, Millie was shouting at the two while her twin was cheering for Max on the sidelines.

‘ _Vanitas, what are you doing?!’_ Chirithy shouted.  _ ‘You could have lost one of your hands after doing something stupid like that! Think before you-’  _ But Vanitas didn't hear it. He was too busy dodging Max's attacks as he came at him with the sword, putting his whole body into swinging and pulling himself away from the on-coming slashes. On his last dodge, he rolled across the grass and stopped on bended knee, heaving air into his lungs as a wave of exhaustion ran through him. The chains were doing something to him again, only this time they were doing it a lot faster.

‘ _Vanitas?’_ The young man's chest squeezed. Vanitas coughed, harshly and dryly.  _ ‘Vanitas, what's going on? Hey…!’  _ Would Chirithy just stop talking? His head was hurting enough just from all those simple dodges. But that was all he had been doing; dodging. Not even really fighting. Before he could have done this effortlessly. But now he felt ready to fall over any second.

“Hey…” He heard one of the girl's voices. Was it the worried mouse? Or the excited one? He couldn't tell. All he could tell was he was starting to become too tired to care if the soldier with them took this opportunity to catch him behind the back. “He's losing his color…” His color? What did they mean by that? Did it even really matter? “Oh!”

One of them had exclaimed as he knee gave out. He fell right there and then on the grass as the air in his lungs seemed to leave him. His fractured heart squeezed painfully. He wanted to rip it out, to make this pain stop. But he could do nothing but lay there as the three animals ran over to him. At least when he passed out, the pain had stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there again, guys! There’s gonna be a huge chunk of explaining and a sneak peak of the first Disney world Vanitas heads to in the next chapter so I hope you guys prepare yourselves for that cx I can’t wait to update the next chapter ^^ Once again, thank you for your support and thank you for checking out the fic. See you guys in the next update!


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